Surratt Society Meeting and "Conference" 2021

[Steve]

We seem to have another eyewitness who claims, years later, to have heard Stanton utter a version of the ages quote. According to the New Hampshire Historical Society, Dr. Ezra Abbott wrote:

During the entire night I kept the record, and the only one, of the president’s respiration and pulsation, noting them every half hour. At 3 a.m. I went to the office of the National Intelligencer and left a copy of my memoranda up to that time. I resumed my position at the foot of the sufferer’s bed, and remained there until he breathed his last, at 7:22 a.m. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton immediately exclaimed, ′He now belongs to the ages.′

I don't know if this quote comes from one of the missing pages from the above account or another, or when it was written - the NHHS doesn't provide this information. They do say that a scrap of the sleeve of Lincoln's coat which had been cut off in the box and subsequently pocketed by Dr. Abbott was donated to the Society in 1921 by Abbott's niece.

Here's an article about Dr Abbott:

http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2015/04/...ssination/